hamilton clark



UNITED sTATEs PATENT OEEIOE.

F. HAMILTON CLARK, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SETTING TEETH.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, F. HAMILTON CLARK, o-f the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Method of Securing Artificial Teeth to the Remaining Roots of Decayed Natural Ones; and I hereby declare that the following is a full and accurate description of my said improvement, reference being had to the annexed drawings, which are made on an enlarged scale for the purpose of more fully showing the several parts.

I make an opening in the root in the usual manner for inserting an artificial tooth, being careful to make it perfectly smooth, round, and of an equal size from top to bottom. Into this opening I insert a cylinder, (Figure 1, A,) Of gold Or other metal, made to fit it with great accuracy, but not so closely as to require much force to introduce it. This cylinder has a bottom of a spherical form with a hole in its'center for the purpose of allowing a screw D to pass through it into the natural canal of the root which is opened and tapped to receive it. The said cylinder has likewise a flange B, encircling y its outer end for the purpose of retaining a filling inserted in the end of the root when rendered concave by decay or otherwise. It has also a bar C, soldered across its inner side about midway of its length, to hold a rod or pivot (Fig. 2) to which the tooth is attached. The said bar occupies about one fifth of the diameter of the cylinder.

The screw which passes through the bottom of the cylinder and holds it permanently in its place, has a head shaped to tit the bottom Of said cylinder, which being rounded, allows the screw to follow the Opening made to receive it, although the same may not be exactly parallel with t-he bed of the cylinder. The screw is sometimes perforated lengthwise in order to allow of the escape of pus in case Of disease of the alveolus Or periosteum. Upon this screw, either solid or perforated rests all the value of my improvement, as it enables me to use a metallic spring pivot (instead of a wooden one) easily removed fOr the purpose of cleansing if desirable, or in a moment made permanent at pleasure by means of a wedge of the thick- ,ness Of a thread introduced into the split of the pivot herein described. The pivot (Fig. 2) is made from a wire drawn to the exact size of the interior of the cylinder. The end intended to be introduced into the cylinder is split with a saw, nearly its whole length, one side of which is led fiat to allow it .to pass the bar against which it rests; this side is either notched or has a projection G left on it, to catch against the bar aforesaid for the purpose of preventing its too easy removal. The other end is to be attached to an artificial tooth in 1 any way most convenient.

Another great advantage of this improvement consists in the facility which it affords to the dentist for filling the end of the root, and if necessary for its protection of covering it almost entirely with gold, thus saving it from the injurious chemical influences Of the juices of the mouth and enables the wearer of pivot teeth to remove and cleanse them as Often as may be required.

In the annexed drawings, Fig. 1, represents a vertical cut section of the cylinder A with the bar C, the flange B, and the screw D. Fig. 2, represents a sideview of the pivot with the split I'I, the led surface F and the projection Gr. Fig. 3 is a top view of the cylinder with the screw D, and bar C.' Fig. 4 is a cut section view of an artificial tooth I, attached to the remaining roo-t J by my plan. In this view the screw D is shown as perforated. K is the filling of the decayed portion of the root.

That I claim in the above described improvement, as new and useful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The mode and manner of securing the cylinder in its place by means of the perforated or solid screw passing through the bottom of said cylinder, into an opening in the root Of a tooth prepared to receive it.

Dated New York, January 28th, 1848.

F. H. CLARK.

lVitnesses JOHN B. DODD, Jr., J. R. BERRY. 

